diff --git a/config/config.go b/config/config.go
index 17ce01e4..4ab1c3c7 100644
--- a/config/config.go
+++ b/config/config.go
@@ -21,6 +21,10 @@ type Anthropic struct {
 	// with a access token. When set, the access token is used for upstream
 	// LLM requests instead of the API key.
 	BYOKBearerToken string
+	// MaxRetries controls the number of automatic retries the SDK will perform
+	// on transient errors. If nil, the SDK default (2) is used.
+	// Set to 0 to disable retries entirely.
+	MaxRetries *int
 }
 
 type AWSBedrock struct {
@@ -43,6 +47,10 @@ type OpenAI struct {
 	CircuitBreaker   *CircuitBreaker
 	SendActorHeaders bool
 	ExtraHeaders     map[string]string
+	// MaxRetries controls the number of automatic retries the SDK will perform
+	// on transient errors. If nil, the SDK default (2) is used.
+	// Set to 0 to disable retries entirely.
+	MaxRetries *int
 }
 
 type Copilot struct {
@@ -51,6 +59,10 @@ type Copilot struct {
 	BaseURL        string
 	APIDumpDir     string
 	CircuitBreaker *CircuitBreaker
+	// MaxRetries controls the number of automatic retries the SDK will perform
+	// on transient errors. If nil, the SDK default (2) is used.
+	// Set to 0 to disable retries entirely.
+	MaxRetries *int
 }
 
 // CircuitBreaker holds configuration for circuit breakers.
diff --git a/intercept/chatcompletions/base.go b/intercept/chatcompletions/base.go
index 84e5f706..50b5e931 100644
--- a/intercept/chatcompletions/base.go
+++ b/intercept/chatcompletions/base.go
@@ -47,6 +47,9 @@ type interceptionBase struct {
 
 func (i *interceptionBase) newCompletionsService() openai.ChatCompletionService {
 	opts := []option.RequestOption{option.WithAPIKey(i.cfg.Key), option.WithBaseURL(i.cfg.BaseURL)}
+	if i.cfg.MaxRetries != nil {
+		opts = append(opts, option.WithMaxRetries(*i.cfg.MaxRetries))
+	}
 
 	// Add extra headers if configured.
 	// Some providers require additional headers that are not added by the SDK.
diff --git a/intercept/messages/base.go b/intercept/messages/base.go
index a5ac8b86..d7b9ddb8 100644
--- a/intercept/messages/base.go
+++ b/intercept/messages/base.go
@@ -219,6 +219,9 @@ func (i *interceptionBase) newMessagesService(ctx context.Context, opts ...optio
 		opts = append(opts, option.WithAPIKey(i.cfg.Key))
 	}
 	opts = append(opts, option.WithBaseURL(i.cfg.BaseURL))
+	if i.cfg.MaxRetries != nil {
+		opts = append(opts, option.WithMaxRetries(*i.cfg.MaxRetries))
+	}
 
 	// Add extra headers if configured.
 	// Some providers require additional headers that are not added by the SDK.
diff --git a/intercept/responses/base.go b/intercept/responses/base.go
index cbd63df2..daccc300 100644
--- a/intercept/responses/base.go
+++ b/intercept/responses/base.go
@@ -55,6 +55,9 @@ type responsesInterceptionBase struct {
 
 func (i *responsesInterceptionBase) newResponsesService() responses.ResponseService {
 	opts := []option.RequestOption{option.WithBaseURL(i.cfg.BaseURL), option.WithAPIKey(i.cfg.Key)}
+	if i.cfg.MaxRetries != nil {
+		opts = append(opts, option.WithMaxRetries(*i.cfg.MaxRetries))
+	}
 
 	// Add extra headers if configured.
 	// Some providers require additional headers that are not added by the SDK.
diff --git a/internal/integrationtest/responses_test.go b/internal/integrationtest/responses_test.go
index 3213e2ff..1a35f707 100644
--- a/internal/integrationtest/responses_test.go
+++ b/internal/integrationtest/responses_test.go
@@ -596,9 +596,6 @@ func TestResponsesParallelToolsOverwritten(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
-// TODO set MaxRetries to speed up this test
-// option.WithMaxRetries(0), in base responses interceptor
-// https://github.com/coder/aibridge/issues/115
 func TestClientAndConnectionError(t *testing.T) {
 	t.Parallel()
 
@@ -642,7 +639,11 @@ func TestClientAndConnectionError(t *testing.T) {
 			t.Cleanup(cancel)
 
 			// tc.addr may be an intentionally invalid URL; use withCustomProvider.
-			bridgeServer := newBridgeTestServer(ctx, t, tc.addr, withCustomProvider(provider.NewOpenAI(openAICfg(tc.addr, apiKey))))
+			// MaxRetries is set to 0 to disable SDK retries and speed up the test.
+			cfg := openAICfg(tc.addr, apiKey)
+			maxRetries := 0
+			cfg.MaxRetries = &maxRetries
+			bridgeServer := newBridgeTestServer(ctx, t, tc.addr, withCustomProvider(provider.NewOpenAI(cfg)))
 
 			reqBytes := responsesRequestBytes(t, tc.streaming)
 			resp, err := bridgeServer.makeRequest(t, http.MethodPost, pathOpenAIResponses, reqBytes)
@@ -660,9 +661,6 @@ func TestClientAndConnectionError(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
-// TODO set MaxRetries to speed up this test
-// option.WithMaxRetries(0), in base responses interceptor
-// https://github.com/coder/aibridge/issues/115
 func TestUpstreamError(t *testing.T) {
 	t.Parallel()
 
@@ -721,7 +719,11 @@ func TestUpstreamError(t *testing.T) {
 			}))
 			t.Cleanup(upstream.Close)
 
-			bridgeServer := newBridgeTestServer(ctx, t, upstream.URL)
+			// MaxRetries is set to 0 to disable SDK retries and speed up the test.
+			cfg := openAICfg(upstream.URL, apiKey)
+			maxRetries := 0
+			cfg.MaxRetries = &maxRetries
+			bridgeServer := newBridgeTestServer(ctx, t, upstream.URL, withCustomProvider(provider.NewOpenAI(cfg)))
 
 			reqBytes := responsesRequestBytes(t, tc.streaming)
 			resp, err := bridgeServer.makeRequest(t, http.MethodPost, pathOpenAIResponses, reqBytes)
diff --git a/provider/anthropic.go b/provider/anthropic.go
index 32de0d57..eb8a8371 100644
--- a/provider/anthropic.go
+++ b/provider/anthropic.go
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import (
 	"io"
 	"net/http"
 	"os"
+	"strconv"
 	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/google/uuid"
@@ -62,6 +63,13 @@ func NewAnthropic(cfg config.Anthropic, bedrockCfg *config.AWSBedrock) *Anthropi
 	if cfg.APIDumpDir == "" {
 		cfg.APIDumpDir = os.Getenv("BRIDGE_DUMP_DIR")
 	}
+	if cfg.MaxRetries == nil {
+		if v := os.Getenv("ANTHROPIC_MAX_RETRIES"); v != "" {
+			if n, err := strconv.Atoi(v); err == nil {
+				cfg.MaxRetries = &n
+			}
+		}
+	}
 	if cfg.CircuitBreaker != nil {
 		cfg.CircuitBreaker.IsFailure = anthropicIsFailure
 		cfg.CircuitBreaker.OpenErrorResponse = anthropicOpenErrorResponse
diff --git a/provider/copilot.go b/provider/copilot.go
index 56caa6e7..7ffaad24 100644
--- a/provider/copilot.go
+++ b/provider/copilot.go
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import (
 	"io"
 	"net/http"
 	"os"
+	"strconv"
 	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/google/uuid"
@@ -63,6 +64,13 @@ func NewCopilot(cfg config.Copilot) *Copilot {
 	if cfg.APIDumpDir == "" {
 		cfg.APIDumpDir = os.Getenv("BRIDGE_DUMP_DIR")
 	}
+	if cfg.MaxRetries == nil {
+		if v := os.Getenv("COPILOT_MAX_RETRIES"); v != "" {
+			if n, err := strconv.Atoi(v); err == nil {
+				cfg.MaxRetries = &n
+			}
+		}
+	}
 	if cfg.CircuitBreaker != nil {
 		cfg.CircuitBreaker.OpenErrorResponse = copilotOpenErrorResponse
 	}
@@ -145,6 +153,7 @@ func (p *Copilot) CreateInterceptor(_ http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request, trac
 		APIDumpDir:     p.cfg.APIDumpDir,
 		CircuitBreaker: p.cfg.CircuitBreaker,
 		ExtraHeaders:   extractCopilotHeaders(r),
+		MaxRetries:     p.cfg.MaxRetries,
 	}
 
 	cred := intercept.NewCredentialInfo(intercept.CredentialKindBYOK, key)
diff --git a/provider/openai.go b/provider/openai.go
index 6281aefe..827b86db 100644
--- a/provider/openai.go
+++ b/provider/openai.go
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import (
 	"io"
 	"net/http"
 	"os"
+	"strconv"
 	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/google/uuid"
@@ -51,6 +52,13 @@ func NewOpenAI(cfg config.OpenAI) *OpenAI {
 	if cfg.APIDumpDir == "" {
 		cfg.APIDumpDir = os.Getenv("BRIDGE_DUMP_DIR")
 	}
+	if cfg.MaxRetries == nil {
+		if v := os.Getenv("OPENAI_MAX_RETRIES"); v != "" {
+			if n, err := strconv.Atoi(v); err == nil {
+				cfg.MaxRetries = &n
+			}
+		}
+	}
 	if cfg.CircuitBreaker != nil {
 		cfg.CircuitBreaker.OpenErrorResponse = openAIOpenErrorResponse
 	}